INTOHIMO REVIEW – MARCH 26TH 2010 – SWEDEN

First band up is Monkey Scream. A girl quartet with a very different sound that’s raw and fresh. The band’s from Kalmar, where the concert is held, and has got impressive skills for the young age. The singer is only fifth teen and her lack of experience of standing in front of people is making the performance less interesting to watch. For some reason they give this nervous girl a tambourine, which seems like a failed attempt to sound better since she’s got no beat. A cowbell is also used in the first two songs, about the same time as the guitar amplifier shuts down. After a while the amplifier starts to work again and they can complete the play list of five songs and end their performance. The crowd couldn’t be less interested in what was happening on stage during this time and some even left for a while when the singer introduced the band.

Next up was Indevotion. You could tell INTOHIMO was excited to see them, as some of the members watched most parts of Indevotions performance. With a very Paramore inspired sound and a singer with a voice like Hayley Williams mixed with Lacey from Flyleaf they finally got the crowd going. Not many showed up to the event and only ten people stood at the front of the stage. No wonder not that many events are held in this town when people aren’t that into it. Indevotions goes for it and gives it all. You can feel the energy coming from the stage. They described themselves as pop/rock and have lots of meaning behind the songs they perform. Half way through lead singer My introduced the next song as love from God and as someone who’s always with you. You could feel the crowds energy die, followed by the awkward silence. The song after that was what really got the crowd going though and after that is started to look like a real concert. They finished it off well and they should be proud of their effort.

To end the evening was the band everyone had been waiting for. After an acoustic performance in a Carlings store earlier that day INTOHIMO was ready to show Kalmar what they’re made of! With the stage being only 7 inches high, the lead singer found it more amusing running around in front of the stage most of the time instead of being on it. A massive moshpit starts just as the band starts playing, at the same time one of the guitars sound disappear. The lead singer, Johan, found that quit funny considering the same thing happened at their last show but for their other guitarist. Besides that and Johan calling the city by the wrong name, twice, opening with their brand new song “We can’t see with our eyes open” was the perfect way to go. After “Hello, I’m Noah!” and another moshpit INTOHIMO asked everyone to take it easy and to have lots of fun without hurting each other. This made it easier to watch the show and what a show it was! “Mirror, Mirror…” was the song that made the crowd jump the highest, but “Dear Lisa” was still the audience favorite and everyone in the front row sang along. Two encores later Johan has dragged the crowd up on the small stage and I’m amazed it didn’t break. After a great finish the audience finally had had enough and couldn’t have asked for a more ecstatic and enjoyable show.